


Cliff's Edge

by blueheartbeat



Category: Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-02
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-30 17:11:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6433120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueheartbeat/pseuds/blueheartbeat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Continuation of Twilight series Post-BD. The Cullens have moved to Oregon six years after the face-off with the Volturi. Nessie is sixteen and ready to go to school with her family under a new cover story. What the Cullens don't know is that their family is about to expand - connections made, love grown. Renesmee has always had a crazy life. At least all her friends are along for the ride.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Arrival

VOLUME ONE OF THE PARADISE SERIES - CLIFF'S EDGE  
Chapter One - Arrival

Renesmee POV

I had never felt butterflies like this before. Each tiny bump the car rolled over threatened to send me over the edge, into nausea.

“Alice, slow it down, will you?” I groaned, holding on to the dashboard.

“Let’s go over the story again,” Alice didn’t take her eyes off the road. “You are?”

“Renesmee Cullen, twin sister of Isabella Cullen,” I grumbled. We’d gone over the story a million times. Being the newest member of the family sucked.

“Nieces to Carlisle and Esme Cullen, our legal guardians after our parents’ oh-so tragic death,” I stroked my index finger down my cheek, mimicking sadness.

“And the rest of us?” Alice barely glanced at me.

“Alice and Emmett McCarty, brother and sister, rescued from foster care. Single father was a patient of Carlisle’s before his also oh-so tragic demise. Edward Masen, taken in as a gesture to a family friend who is unable to provide care. Jasper and Rosalie Whitlock, also twins, taken in after their hiker parents went missing in the mountains.”

“Jake and Seth?” Alice was smiling now. I truly had it down pat.

“Family friends, decided to stay with the fantastic Cullen family for the duration of their schooling. Both have at least one parent alive and well,” I smiled fondly, thinking of my imprint and his best friend. Seth joining us was a last minute decision - Leah had created a hugely toxic atmosphere with her opposition to the upcoming wedding.

Sue and Charlie got engaged not long after the battle with the Volturi. When the marriage was official, Charlie would become a Quileute parent. Seth would be my uncle, Leah my aunt. Their stepsister, my mother, and their brother in law my father. Charlie would be let in on the whole secret. Not just Jake being a werewolf, but all the legends.

Including vampires. Nobody said it out loud, but everyone was worried he would turn against us. Be disgusted with what we were - what I was. And all the lies we told him. The worry sat in the pit of my stomach at all times, rolling around like a black cannonball.

“Nessie, we’re here,” Alice prodded me gently as we pulled up to the school. We’d moved to a heavily wooded, medium-sized town in Oregon. The high school was decent looking enough. The butterflies rose to my chest. I knew there would be stares. When you come from an impossibly attractive family, the stares are part of the package.

“It’s going to be fine,” Jasper assured me from the backseat. Of course he could feel my tension. The three of us exited the car - we’d tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, taking a simple black BMW. Of course, in this town, everyone drove rusted up trucks. We stuck out like a sore thumb.

Already a crowd of car-appreciating geeks had formed. Jake and Seth had just pulled up on their motorcycles - a gift from Carlisle - and the Volvo was already parked, with my parents, Emmett and Rose waiting for us. I just about tore across the damp asphalt, desperate to get close to Jacob. The moment I saw him, all the butterflies fell down.

“You okay?” Jake asked, steadying me with a hand on my arm. I nodded, grateful to be near my best friend. My protector, my everything was Jake. He was everything and anything I needed him to be - brother, friend, confidant. Lover, even, though I was barely sixteen in my physique.

“Everyone have their schedules?” Edward asked, craning his neck over Emmett. We formed a sort of squarish circle and compared classes. Emmett, Rose, Jasper and Edward would be seniors, so we had no classes together. Alice, Bella, Seth, Jake and I were all juniors.

I had Socials first, with Jake and Seth. Afterwards would be English with Seth and Bella. Then lunch, Art with Jake and Seth, then Drama with Alice. Only two classes with Jake?! Hell no!

Bella looked a little too old to be a junior, but we had to keep up the twin charade. Edward, though, was annoyed that he wouldn’t be able to spend time with her. I gagged at that - they had all night, for God’s sake.

“Let’s get to Socials,” Jake suggested as the first bell rang. He steered me with a hand on my elbow, enough that we were maintaining contact in the sea of staring students. The socials room was in the downstairs wing, near the end. Thankfully Jake and Seth’s large bodies made other students not want to cross us. We made it to the classroom without incident.

The room looked cozy. Grey light from the overcast clouds pooled over everything, creating a silvery effect. Jake and Seth picked a table in the very back. I sat directly in front of them, leaving the seat next to me open. Hopefully I could make a friend. The tables each sat two people, so I could get some one-on-one time with a human. By myself!

The room filled up slowly, and nobody sat by me. Did I look too available? Was I that overly eager girl who would chat your ear off? It took a minute to hit me. Jacob and Seth looked intimidating as hell. Nobody wanted to sit near that, or with the girl so obviously under their protection.

I gave up hope when the late bell rang. All the seats were filled - besides mine. That was when a rather frazzled looking girl swanned into the room.

Her skin was slightly tanned, as if she spent a lot of time in the garden. Her hair, which was in a messy pile at the back of her head, was a lovely soft brown highlighted with sunny gold. Freckles marched haphazardly across her high cheekbones and angular nose. Her full lips were parted in worry.

“Sorry - S-sorry I’m a little late!” She gushed, scanning the room with a schedule clutched in her hand. “I forgot where the Socials room was!”

“Yes,” said the male teacher dryly. “Juliet, nice of you to join us. If you’ll have a seat, we can begin.”

“Such a hare-brain,” the girl, Juliet, whispered as she marched over to my table. She made nervous eye contact with me - her eyes were a foresty green, dotted with brown - before sitting in her seat.

“Hi,” I whispered, while the teacher launched into his introduction lecture. “I’m Renesmee.”

“Juliet,” she answered, meeting my eyes with a sidelong glance. “You’re new here.”

“Just moved from Washington with my family,” I told her proudly. “All… eleven of us.”

“Eleven?” Her eyes widened. “Jesus!”

“A lot of us are adopted,” I traced my finger absentmindedly over the smooth, shiny wood in front of us. “Carlisle and Esme are my uncle and aunt, they took us in along with some foster kids and our two family friends, Jake and Seth.”

“Wow,” Juliet dropped her gaze, suddenly seeming nervous. We made small talk for the rest of class, although she skirted revealing too many personal details about herself. She seemed great enough, though, and by the end of class we had exchanged numbers and I had a new friend. Her natural scent was mouth-watering, but not in the sense that I wanted to suck her blood. It was like sunny grass, vanilla and sun-warmed strawberries. Yum.

“What’s your next class?” Juliet asked, hoisting a frayed tote bag over her shoulder while the bell echoed. I pretended to think about it.

“English,” I answered. “How about you?”

“Math,” she responded sullenly. “I’d hoped we would have another class together.”

“After lunch I’ve got art and drama,” I offered chipperly. Her face brightened immediately.

“So have I!” She said as we walked towards the door. Jacob and Seth hung back a little. “I’ll see you in art, then.”

“Bye!” I grinned as she turned down the hallway. Turning to my boys, I gave two huge thumbs up.

“Good job, Ness,” Jake casually slung an arm over my shoulder. “Made your first friend.”

“It feels good,” I told him, reaching out for Seth’s arm. The three of us walked to Jake’s home ec class, linked up together. We really were three peas in a pod. It had been that way since I was born, and would be that way until the end of time.

Unless Seth imprinted and grew old and died alongside his wife. My heart squeezed painfully at that thought. I almost hated the mortal he would fall in love with - could I be prepared to love her as a sister when she was the reason my Seth would die? Well, nevermind that. Not all wolves imprinted, and every second with my best friend was priceless. No use worrying.

“English, m’lady?” Seth asked, offering his hand after we said goodbye to Jake. I curtsied and let Seth lead me up the cement staircase to the English room. The room was broad, with bean bags spread out around low coffee tables. Bella was already sitting at a coffee table in the corner, her bag resting on the purple bean bag next to her and her binder on the green bean bag next to that. Nobody dared join the dark-haired, intimidating vampire. I could have laughed at that - my mom was such a cutie in private. In public, she looked like she’d snap your neck without putting a hair out of place.

I plopped down on the purple bean bag while Seth almost crushed the green one.

“How was your first class, nudger?” Bella leaned in and whispered to me.

“It was great, I made a friend named Juliet. She’s a little private but, oh my God, Mom, so cute and funny!” I gushed. Seth kicked my bean bag, almost catapulting me out the window.

“Shit - Bella,” I corrected myself quickly.

“Language!” Bella ordered, giving me her mom-look.

“You aren’t my mom,” I stuck out my tongue at her. “Mind your own business.”

The conversations died down when the teacher entered the room. She was nice looking enough, with straight sheets of white blonde hair and big blue eyes. Her loose-flowing purple dress made her look more like a witch than a teacher.

“Welcome to junior English,” she announced grandly, opening her arms wide. “In this course, we will explore literature in its finest form, unlock your deepest capabilities and turn each and every student into a poet, an author… Whatever they desire.”

She pivoted on her black heels, facing the room. “Some of you are new to this town and do not know me. My name is Annalise Hemlock - but you may call me Lise. I see we have three newcomers here. Will you introduce yourselves?”

All eyes had been waiting for an excuse to jump on us. Now, unabashedly, every single body in the room rotated to look directly at us for the first time.

“My name is Bella Cullen,” Bella spoke clearly and without hesitation. “My twin sister, Renesmee, and our family friend, Seth Clearwater. We moved here from Washington.”

“Ah, twins,” Lise eyed the two of us, obviously mentally comparing our faces. “Do you have the fabled telepathic twin connection? Can you share feelings without spoken word?”

I grinned sidelong at Bella. “Something like that.”

The teacher droned on and on. She was a little weird, if I was honest. Her whole gimmick seemed to be about unlocking your inner potential. She seemed to be a favorite among students, though, so we ended up giving her the benefit of the doubt.

At lunch, the Cullens dominated a table in the center of the room. United, they rested casually on the chairs looking more like Greek deities than students. Definitely out of place in the less-than-fancy lunchroom.

I caught Juliet’s eye at a table not far from there. She was sitting with two boys, surrounded by comic books. I grinned and waved a hello before pointing to my family’s table. She took them in with wide eyes.

“Hey, guys,” I said hurriedly to my vampires. “Is it okay if I sit with my new friend? Where’s the wolves?”

“Conference call in the forest,” Edward rolled his eyes slightly. “Go ahead, love.”

“Thanks! Bye!” I rushed over to Juliet’s table. She pushed out a chair for me with her hiking-boot clad food. I flopped down gratefully into the hard blue plastic.

“How was Math?” I asked, resting my chin on my hands. The two boys jerked up from their comic books suddenly, staring at me. Great.

“It was horrible,” Juliet snorted. “Lewis, Harper, this is Renesmee.”

Lewis, a boy with mousy brown curls and large glasses, managed a half-smile. Harper, with spiky black hair and dark almond shaped eyes nodded at me.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I offered, trying to seem friendly. Out of habit, I began twisting a bronze curl over and over my finger. The two boys huddled together, whispering.

“What the hell do you think she is?” Harper asked. Obviously they thought I couldn’t hear.

“Part angel, maybe,” Lewis breathed. “Maybe a superhero, like Wonder woman.”

I tried really hard not to laugh at that.

The boys were friendly enough when they actually spoke to me. Geeky, of course, and awkward, but very funny. I learned that Harper was Juliet’s boyfriend, and Lewis was their best friend - slash sidekick, according to Harper. Maybe these people would be my first human friends.


	2. Gravity

Seth POV

Jake and I walked into the cafeteria ten minutes into lunch. A lot of people stared at us, but nobody said anything thankfully. My eyes were on the food that the Cullens had snuck onto the trays they’d got for us - to make it look like they were eating.

We sat and started wolfing down the food, literally. Rosalie made sort of a scrunchy face at us. I just winked at her. She pretended to be so cold and horrible, but I knew she thought I was cute in a little brother kind of way.

Jake kept throwing looks at Nessie between mouthfuls. She was sitting at a table with three others who had their backs to us. Two guys and the girl from Socials class. I recognized the back of her head. Her hair really was lovely. I didn’t even realize I was staring until my eyes met Nessie’s. Her brow was slightly puckered. She was giving me the ‘Dude, cut it out’ face.

I just went back to focusing on my carb intake. The Cullens quietly discussed their days. So far, no trouble with the humans. A few were crushing pretty hard on various members of the family, but they all had the decency to avoid us.

The bell rang, signaling it was time for art class. This would be exciting, because Jake and I were really good with our hands. We followed Nessie and her friends out of the cafeteria, moving down the hall towards the art room. People began to fill the space between our two groups, so Nessie turned to wave us forward.

Everything happened in slow motion. Suddenly, the hallway was completely silent. Laughter, shouts and conversations turned to a dull ringing. Nessie twisted, her bronze curls catching the overhead lights and reflecting. Her movement caught her friend’s attention. The girl turned as well, her eyes passing across Jake, traveling up my face and meeting my eyes with the force of a shotgun blast.

My entire world exploded with color at that moment. Everything was sharper, brighter, sweeter. Her lovely eyes, a blend of greens, golds and rust red, were infinite as the forest under my paws. Everything she was surrounded me suddenly. The freckles dancing along her face, her curly brown lashes, messy hair. She was the only one who mattered.

“Dude,” Jake’s voice echoed. “Seth? Seth!”

A strong hand thudded my back. It had only been about two seconds in real time. The girl’s lovely face was slightly tweaked with concern. I kept moving, ducking my head. The last thing I wanted to do was look away from her, but I had to maintain normalcy.

“Sorry, guess I ate too fast,” I said loud enough for everyone to hear. A few people had noticed my little holdup. Jake stared at me as we made our way through the crowd. Did he know what just happened? Being an imprint himself, he probably did.

We entered the art room as a pack. Some Asian kid with his arm possessively around the girl’s waist, the girl, Nessie, Jake and I. We found a table in the corner of the room and sat on the low stools. When we were settled, the girl met my eyes again and smiled.

“Hi,” she blinked. “I’m Juliet.”

“Juliet,” I repeated. “Hiya - er, I’m Seth. Clearwater.”

“And I’m Jacob,” Jake nudged me. I swallowed, trying not to creep the girl out.

“I’m Harper,” the scrawny kid said annoyingly. “Julie’s boyfriend.”

He was sizing me up, obviously. I flexed slightly. Nessie kicked me under the table, obviously annoyed with my display of masculinity.

“So, Nessie,” Jake said loudly. “Seth just im-printed out his essay on Romeo and Juliet.”

“The term is printed,” Harper corrected without looking away from me. “Also, it’s the first day of school, how could you possibly have an essay?”

“We take extra online courses,” Jake announced. “Because we’re advanced.”

“Evidently,” Harper rolled his eyes. Juliet nudged him, shaking her head slightly. She was so kind.

Nessie’s eyes were wide. She’d caught the hidden meaning behind Jake’s words easily.

“Seth, how was your essay?” She urged, meeting my eyes.

“It was amazing, I really feel like my insight on the world has changed now. Juliet’s character really influenced me,” I told her, blushing.

“It wasn’t even that good of a play,” Harper interjected.

“Harper,” Juliet said quietly. “Can you not?”

They had a quiet discussion. Through class, Nessie tried to lighten the tension and I tried to ask Juliet questions about herself. Every little detail was so interesting to me. Harper tried to block every attempt at communication between us - but Juliet could feel the spark too. I knew it. She looked at me with such warmth, such easy acceptance. She had to feel it, too.

Renesmee POV

I was warring with myself for the entire hour of art class. Juliet was Seth’s imprint. They would grow up together and die. It hung, inevitably. Juliet was sixteen, now. We had just over sixty years until I’d lose my best friend and possible best friend. The pain looming in the distance crushed me.

It made me want to hate her, hate Juliet. But it wasn’t possible. She was so warm and fun, it was impossible to make myself hate her. I only hated what she was, what happened between her and Seth.

And what about Harper? This would ruin their little group’s friendship dynamic completely. How would Harper feel when his girlfriend left him for the hot new guy? Harper wasn’t unattractive, but he wasn’t the best looking guy and obviously had self-confidence issues.

When the bell rang, Seth and Harper walked us to drama, shouldering for dominance. I banished them both, annoyed, and dragged Juliet into class.

“Seth is so nice,” Juliet gushed the second we were alone. “I mean wow - he’s really something special.”

“You’re dating Harper,” I reminded her, unable to keep slight resentment out of my voice. She definitely noticed. A slight dent formed between her brows.

“Okay, who said I wanted to date Seth?” She sounded slightly upset. I genuinely felt bad.

“I’m sorry,” I told her. “I didn’t - I’m just protective over Seth. I didn’t mean to accuse you of anything.”

“That’s alright,” Juliet put an arm around my waist, side-hugging me. The human contact actually felt really good, for someone who’d grown up with only vampires and werewolves. I was almost disappointed when she let go.

Alice bounded into drama class, bright as ever. I went in to hug her and quickly placed my hand on her cheek, letting her know who Juliet was and that Seth had imprinted.

“I’m getting better at seeing around the wolves,” she breathed as the teacher entered. “I don’t get unexpected visions of them but if I strain, and know the wolf well enough, I can get a really good picture of what’ll happen.”

“Can you see anything now?” I hissed back, looking nonchalant.

“I’ll have a look. Thanks to the imprint, some things are likely to be set in stone at this point,” she told me, scanning the room to make sure no one had clued into our private conversation.

“Thanks, let me know what you find,” I nodded once. We tuned into the teacher after that. The hour and fifteen minutes was boring. We mostly played get-to-know-you games.

“You should come over and hang out sometime soon,” I told Juliet as the bell rang. “We can do girl’s night, and you can get to know my sisters.”

“That sounds awesome,” Juliet grinned. “I’d really like that, actually.”

“Why don’t we do dinner and some movies tomorrow? Come over after school?”

“Would that be okay with your aunt and uncle?” Juliet asked, looking a little worried. I reached out and smoothed the dent between her eyebrows with my finger.

“Yes. It will be fine, I’ll let Esme know when I get home,” I smiled. “Text me tonight!”

We said our goodbyes, Juliet heading for the bus. I met up with the rest of the family in the parking lot.

“Ness, want to ride with me?” Jake gestured to his motorcycle. Seth was straddling his own bike with a dreamy look on his face.

“Sorry, Jake, gotta talk to Bella and Edward,” I kissed his cheek. He pouted at me, grabbing my hand.

“Please?” He whined. “I haven’t seen you at all today!”

I laughed, knowing damn well he’d seen me barely an hour and a half ago. I let him helmet me anyways, climbing onto the bike behind him. With my arms wrapped around his waist and my cheek pressed into his back, I felt complete. I could easily hear his steady heartbeat with my hybrid ears. I squeezed a little tighter than necessary. Jake was my wolf.

We ripped through the streets, my long bronze curls flying out behind me. We rode alongside Seth, dipping this way and that with the engines purring underneath us.

The sun started to set, creating a fire in the sky. It was still overcast, so the huge yellow orange and pink clouds blanketed the little town. Everything wasn’t perfect - but everything was good. Seth threw back his head, laughing into the dusky air.


	3. Moonlight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone on ff.net, I also have this story posted there. Just in case you think this is plagiarism! This website looks easier to use, so I'm trying it out.

Back at the house, we organized a family meeting to go over the day’s events. I stood in the centre of the living room, looking at everyone seated on the couches.

“Okay, everyone,” I began. I launched into the tale, starting with meeting Juliet, the imprint, her relationship with Harper. I finished off by telling them she was coming over for dinner and movies after school the next day.

“Well, congratulations, Seth,” Carlisle clapped Seth’s back. “You want to call your family, let them know?”

“I guess so,” Seth shrugged. “I don’t really talk to them much anymore.”

“Seth, that’s ridiculous!” Esme put her hands on her hips, peering up at the boy. “Why?”

“Leah’s poisoned our mom. She’s totally anti-Cullen! They’re both being ridiculous. Bella’s gonna be our sister soon, and Edward’s gonna be our brother in law. It’s putting a real strain on Charlie. He doesn’t know why they hate you so much - and he won’t know until the marriage is sealed,” Seth fumed. “So, no, I really don’t want to talk to them.”

My stomach dropped as Esme hugged Seth. What if Leah poisoned Charlie as well? Would my grandpa hate me? Would he call me a monster, an abomination like the other wolves did before my birth? Jacob’s imprint was the only thing that changed their minds, in the end.

I suddenly didn’t feel like talking much. All the happy bubbles that had built up in my chest popped, leaving an unpleasant and bitter soapy residue.

“I’m gonna go work on my homework,” I grabbed my tote bag from the floor and hoisted it over my shoulder. Edward and Jasper were both watching me sympathetically - or in Jasper’s case, empathetically. I just jogged up the carpeted stairs, down the long hallway and up another flight of stairs. Down that hall was my bedroom, my safe haven.

I threw down my bag and pulled out my phone without even realizing it. The only person I wanted to talk to was Juliet. I flopped onto the bed and pulled up a new text conversation.

Me: Hey, what’s up?

Juliet texted back almost instantly.

Juliet: Nothing, bored. What’s up with u?

Me: Ugh, family drama. Totally cool if you come over tomorrow tho.

Juliet: Awesome, what kind of drama?

Me: My grandpa is getting remarried. His step daughter doesn’t like grandpa’s kids but his step son does. Everyone is fighting.

Juliet: Your uncle’s dad is getting remarried and your uncle has drama with the step siblings? They sound like teenagers!

Me: U don’t even know, man. It sucks!!

Juliet: Damn. We’ll take your mind off it tomorrow :-)

Juliet and I texted all the way until dinner, when I had to put my phone away. After Jake, Seth and I were done eating, we resumed our conversation easily. It was so easy to talk to her. She didn’t talk about her family much, so we mostly focused on our interests, hobbies and getting to know each other.

I learned how she met Harper, how dependant he was on her. He got jealous easily, Lewis was the only guy she was really allowed to be friends with. That was ridiculous to me - why would you limit who your partner talks to?!

Around eleven, we said goodnight and Jake knocked softly at my door.

“Come in,” I whispered. He entered, shutting the door behind him.

“Can’t sleep?” I asked, sitting up in the patch of moonlight on the wide bed. Jake shook his head. I smiled and opened up the covers, motioning for him to join me.

“Won’t your parents get mad?” Jake asked, climbing into bed with me anyways. I snuggled up to him automatically.

“I think they’re a little preoccupied,” I whispered. “Besides, I slept with you all the time when I was a baby. Why’s it different now?”

“You’re right,” he rumbled. I drifted off to sleep, listening to the steady flow of the river near our house, the soft hum of the house, quiet murmurs every so often, Jake’s heartbeat and his steady breathing.

I think, for most people, anyways, waking up with a vampire standing over your bed is not a great way to start the morning. On the other hand, it was a regular occurrence for me.

“Fun night, have we?” Emmett folded his arms, the thick veins standing out as he grinned down at Jake and I, entwined under my lilac purple duvet.

“Emmett,” I closed my eyes. “Vampire limbs can be reattached, right?”

“Yeah, with some venom,” Emmett answered. He sounded confused.

“You have thirty seconds to leave my bedroom and my business before I ask Rosalie to remove your you-know-what and hide it,” I growled. “March.”

Emmett yelped like a scared dog. “Alright, Esme just wanted me to tell you she made pancakes, bye!”

He was gone in a flash. Jake’s deep chuckle vibrated next to me. I snuggled in deeper, not wanting to get out of the warm bed. But, sure enough, Esme’s mouth-watering chocolate chip pancakes taunted me from downstairs. I could faintly smell the decadent chocolate, melted into the hot, doughy pancake… the creamy butter, melting over it. I typically hated human food, but damn Esme made some delicious pancakes.

“Time to get up, little vampire,” Jake patted my butt. “C’mon.”

I got up, stretching out. My curls had decided to behave today, thankfully, but it was almost time for a haircut. They were starting to hang past my waist.

Downstairs, Seth was already shoving whole pancakes into his mouth. Luckily Esme always made a ton, knowing the wolf boys’… wolfish appetites. We sat at the kitchen table in a puddle of golden sunlight. Esme’s hand sparkled as she placed a dish of hot cakes before us.

“Are the others skipping today?” I waved out the window with my fork.

“Sunlight won’t last, clouds incoming,” Alice waltzed into the room. “There’s an outfit on your bed.”

Sure enough, heavy dark clouds descended over the town, stripping away the beautiful light. I sighed, at least I enjoyed it while it lasted. After breakfast I ran at top speed up to my room. On the now-tidy bed was an outfit for me.

A pair of slightly pre-distressed overalls, a white t-shirt and a cute pair of brown combat boots. Thank you, Alice. I dressed quickly, leaving my curls down and free. I did my usual makeup, applying a little mascara and lipgloss.

“Renesmee, time to go!” Bella yelled from downstairs. I grabbed my tote bag, checked to make sure I had what I needed and thundered down the stairs behind Jake and Seth.

It was warm and humid outside. Everything was drenched in a greyish-blue colour from the clouds. The sky loomed over us, threatening a thunderstorm and probably those warm, fat raindrops. I grinned. My favorite weather was humid summer storms. There was a picture of me on Carlisle’s desk from the day we moved here, sitting on the window seat in the attic overlooking the forest while rain pounded the glass. I was wearing my favorite white dress and holding a single red rose. Alice posed me and took the photo, making sure I looked very deep in thought. I pretended to be thinking of my lost love, wondering if he’d ever return. I preferred the picture we took right after that, of Alice and I collapsed on the floor with our heads together, in the middle of laughter. That picture was on my dresser.

“Who are you riding with?” Edward asked, handing me an apple. I stuck it in my bag for later with a smile of thanks.

“I’ll ride in the Jeep with Em and Rose,” I pointed to the tall, currently roofless car. Edward nodded, reminding me of the merits of seatbelts - as if Rose would ever let me ride without one - and headed to his Volvo where Bella was waiting with a sappy smile.

I easily vaulted into the Jeep, declining Emmett’s help. After Rose made sure I strapped in, we were off. I liked riding in the Jeep best out of all the cars. We were higher up than regular vehicles, and that made me feel special and tall. And powerful.

At school, I met up with Juliet outside the Socials room. We hugged, already familiar with each other. Jake and Seth hadn’t arrived yet, probably at their lockers. That was when a girl with a blonde bob walked up to us, hips swaying.

“Juliet, so nice to see you,” the girl sniffed, looking the opposite of what she said. Juliet cringed away. The girl barely noticed. She was too focused on me.

“Hi, I’m Amber Reese,” she said with a charming, too-white smile. I gave her a terse smile - there was no reason for me to be hostile yet, but I didn’t have a good feeling about this girl.

“Are you dating Jacob Black?” Amber asked point blank, trying to seem nonchalant. I fought to remain neutral - there was my reason not to like her.

“I am not,” I answered. She grinned triumphantly.

“Oh, so is he single?” She waited for my nod before continuing. “Look, you’re knew, you don’t know who to hang with yet. I get it. My friends and I sit at the table by the window. Come join us, oh, and bring that yummy Seth kid. See ya around.”

Juliet turned bright red as Amber attempted to swan away gracefully - the swing of her hips was much too forced. I didn’t care about critiquing Amber’s exit, though. I was more focused on my friend, who looked like she might cry.

“Uh, can you believe that?” I rolled my eyes. “That was so rude. Who does she think she is, Britney Spears?”

Juliet laughed nervously. “That’s Amber. She probably does think she’s Britney.”

“Whatever,” I slung my arm around Juliet’s shoulder. “She’ll be disappointed to find out I’m already hanging with the coolest girl in school.”

Juliet leaned into me, the tension leaving her face. My heart twinged as I realized she’d been genuinely worried I’d hang out with Amber instead. Yeah, not even if Hell froze over. Seth chose that moment to bound up to us as the first bell rang, a wide smile on his face.

“Hi, Seth,” Juliet smiled. If it was possible, Seth’s face got even brighter.

“Hi, Juliet,” Seth ran a hand over the back of his neck. “Er, did you sleep well?”

“I can’t complain,” she answered with a laugh. We filtered into the classroom, going to the seats we chose yesterday. Throughout the class, Seth and Juliet resumed their little game from yesterday. They took turns asking each other questions, quietly, while the teacher wasn’t paying attention. At the end of class, with thorough prompting from Jake, Seth asked for her number.

“Not - er, not that I’m implicating anything untowards,” Seth stammered, his dark cheeks taking on a more russet tone.

“No,” Juliet didn’t take her eyes away from his as she wrote her number across a scrap paper. “Of course not.”

They both seemed a little dazed after the interaction. Seth’s hand brushed Juliet’s as she handed him the paper. I smiled inwardly, knowing they were meant to be together.

And they’re going to die together, too, the wicked little voice in the back of my head chimed. I squashed it. Humans experienced loss all the time - just because I hit the life jackpot didn’t mean I should be exempt from that as well. It was selfish of me to expect my friends to stick around forever, stay young forever just because I was.


End file.
